Goodyear Racing Showdown preview

Santerre Determined To Win Grand National Showdown Race
IRWINDALE, Calif. (Nov. 11, 2004) -- Andy Santerre, the 2004
NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch North Series champion, is set to
cap an already marvelous season with a ...

Santerre Determined To Win Grand National Showdown Race

IRWINDALE, Calif. (Nov. 11, 2004) -- Andy Santerre, the 2004
NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch North Series champion, is set to
cap an already marvelous season with a victory in the Grand National
portion of the Toyota All-Star Showdown Saturday at Irwindale Speedway.
Santerre finished second in the inaugural event in 2003.

Goodyear is the exclusive tire supplier for NASCAR's Grand
National Division, which includes the Busch North Series and the NASCAR
West Series. The tire combination supplied at Irwindale for the Showdown
is the same combination used at every track either series raced at this
season, except the tracks measuring a mile or longer.

Santerre said the fact that the teams in both divisions have
experience with the tire combination supplied for the Showdown helps to
alleviate any advantage the West Series teams have from racing at
Irwindale twice this season.

"It helps being used to that tire combination," Santerre
said. "We know the air pressure and the stagger we want. It makes a
difference. (The West teams) are used to the tire and we're used to the
tire. It makes for a lot better race."

Goodyear's D1470 will be used on the left side of the cars
and the D1471 will be used on the right. The tires are bias-ply racing
tires and Chad Fletcher, Goodyear's Marketing Manager for the NASCAR
Touring Series, said they were very effective in the two West races this
season.

"This combination is the standard workhorse set up for the
two series," Fletcher said. "We brought these tires to almost every
race and, by now, the teams are very familiar with these tires."

The three-day event will include testing Thursday, qualifying
races Friday and the main events on Saturday. Both the Grand National
final and the NASCAR Elite Division feature will be carried live by SPEED
Channel, starting at 11 p.m., Eastern Time.

The Grand National race will be 150 laps around Irwindale's
high-banked, half-mile venue. The regular season West races at Irwindale
were both 150-lappers and Fletcher noted the cars went the distance
without pitting. The Showdown event includes a 10-minute pit stop during
which the teams can make adjustments, including bolting on a fresh set of
Goodyear tires.

"Should be good side-by-side racing," Santerre said.

The Busch North teams worked together at Irwindale in 2003,
sharing information and even parts, in an effort to win the
series-to-series championship. The effort paid off as the Busch North
teams scored the most points and won the inter-series competition. West
Series racer Austin Cameron won the race.

"We can have a lot of fun out here," Santerre said. "But
we can have fun back home, too. The biggest reason we came here was to
win this race."